


It takes a village

by Ghelik



Series: The 100 Fics [69]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Children, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-01-27
Packaged: 2019-10-17 20:28:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17567432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghelik/pseuds/Ghelik
Summary: Raven Reyes promised they would get down to the ground. All seven of them.Or the story of how season 5 would've gone if Spacekru had a little five-year-old natblida of their own when they came back to earth.





	It takes a village

**Author's Note:**

> This is a continuation of Welcome to Spacekru. You don't necessarily need to read that one to understand this, but I would recommend it. 
> 
> I also would like to blame @DistractedPadawan for making this a multi-chapter.

It takes a village to raise a child. In Mouse's case, that village was a castle floating in the eternal Void, orbiting an agonizing planet. The Ring is filled with his family: Monty, who has what Raven called "dad jokes" to spare and makes disgusting algae mush; Harper, Monty's wife, who is a healer and a fighter and knows how to make any bruise hurt less and who has always a kind word to spare; Murphy, a Fox that lives in the deep darkness of the unused part of the Palace and that has neither time nor patience for anyone but Mouse; Raven, the smartest person alive who will one day take the whole clan down to Earth; Raven's assistant, Emori, who teaches him how to pickpocket and hide a knife in his sleeve. Then there is dad, who is the leader and loves him; and mom, who is the best fighter and will protect the clan from anything.

For five years, Mouse lives in the Space Palace, learning and playing with his Kru, listening to the tales of Spirits, and Wastelanders and pre-Praimfaya cities. He learns to count from Raven and helps Emori in creating wind up toys. Mom teaches him to fight, even though Dad thinks he is too young and Monty lets him help with the algae in his farm.

And then, another space ship appears in the sky and just like that the whole clan is packing up their things. They are all cranky and nervous – all except Murphy who is excited and happy for the first time in months.

Mom folds all his shirts and pants into a backpack, stuffing his favorite blocks and the wind-up dinosaur Raven got him for his birthday. She straps a knife to his leg and gives him Mr. Rabbit. "Go to the dropship, Mouse. I'll be there in a moment."

Dad looks nervous as he strides down the corridor and towards his and mom's room. Mouse knows he should go to the dropship like mom told him, he knows he shouldn't listen behind doors, but, Murphy always says "sometimes you gotta be naughty to find out what the Fungus is going on." So he steps closer to the door to peek inside. Mom and dad are standing so close together, Mouse nearly can't hear them.

“We are a family. Nothing can change that.”

“I am still banished. What if Octavia-“

“She won’t.”

Octavia is dad's sister, and the most badass fighter after mom. Like, dad, she is the leader of the people inside the bunker.

“You do remember, I almost killed your sister?”

Dad squeezes mom’s arms. “You are right. You’re screwed.”

Mom chuckles and turns away, folding her favorite nightshirt. “It’s not just that.” She hangs her head with a heavy sigh. “There was a flamekeeper in the bunker. What will happen when they realize Mouse’s a natblida? He’s just the right age to start training in the Commander’s shadow. I-“

“Hey, no. Nobody is taking our kid.”

Mom shakes her head, leaning into dad’s arms. “I am a terrible mother, denying him his birthright.”

“You are doing what is best for Mouse. And we, all of us, will keep him safe. He has so much to see, we will make sure he sees it all.“

“What did I ever do to deserve you,” mom purrs and Mouse knows this is his cue to leave before they start giving each other icky kisses on the mouth.

He reaches the shuttle where Murphy is loading his pack into the cargo hold. “There you are, little man,” he says with a crooked grin. “I have a space suit for you. Here let me help.”

The older man helps him get into the orange jumpsuit and fastens his helmet. “Now you don’t take that thing off until we tell you its ok, you hear me?”

Mouse nods and lets Murphy hoist him up into an empty seat, strapping him down and offering Mr. Rabbit once he’s done. “Ok, let’s get this party started.”

Mom and dad and the rest of the Kru strap into their seats and Raven and Emori start operation ‘uninvited guests. The ride is bumpy and a little bit scary, and Murphy keeps a running commentary which means Mouse has to bite his tongue not to laugh. Emori isn't happy, and she snaps at her former friend.

Murphy and Emori have not been talking for the past six months. Before that, they spent a lot of time shouting at each other. Mouse remembers a time when they loved each other as much as Monty and Harper or mom and dad do, but now they can't even sit at the same table without sharp words flying around.

Raven says it's because sometimes, you love someone so much it hurts, and sometimes you are just an idiot called John Murphy.

As soon as they disembark into the new spaceship, an alarm goes off. It’s shrill and loud and annoying. “Emori, make a systems check.”

“I’ll stay,” offers Murphy, his eyes alight with excitement.

“What for? So you can make your stupid little jokes.”

And just like that, they are fighting again, until Harper offers to stay and help Emori. “Mouse, stay with your aunts,” says mom.

“But I want to go explore the ship,”

“No, you have to keep Harper and Emori safe while they work, ok?”

He nods. “Aye, aye, captain.”

Mom leaves, sword in hand, followed by the rest. After half an eternity the alarm shuts up. Emori and Harper’s work is boring, so he plays with Mr. Rabbit while the computer drones on about stats and numbers. Raven always says that Edd, the computer, is his favorite person on the Ring, but that is a lie. His favorite person is dad, and his second favorite is Murphy, but Mouse isn’t allowed to tell him, or it will go to his head and make it explode.

When Murphy, Monty, and Mom come back, they are nervous and tell his aunts to hurry upload the stolen fuel while mom goes to fetch Bellamy and Raven.

“Monty, what happened?”

“They have an army in cryo. But that’s not all. They are hunting our people down on the ground.”

“We need to go help them!” says Mouse.

“We are working on it. You don’t need to worry.”

But the way he looks at Harper tells another story, and Mouse's hand goes to the knife mom strapped to his thigh. He likes the knife, Emori made it for him as a present for his fifth birthday – dad didn't like that and always puts it in the top shelve where he can't reach it.

“We are moving out.”

“Wait, where is Raven?”

“It’s technical, but someone needs to stay and monitor stuff from up here.”

“So let it be John!” cries Emori. Murphy flinches like he’s been slapped.

“As I said, it is technical.” Mom squeezes Mouse to her chest, her eyes on dad. “Let’s move. Now, Murphy.”

Murphy doesn't want to come. His eyes are dull again like they were back in the Ring when he was always alone and angry and sad and lashed out against everyone but Mouse. It is Murphy mom should be hugging.

“You have to come to the ground!” calls Mouse as Mom takes him away.

"I'll go down with Raven. Now you be good, pipsqueak." His eyes fall on Emori, and his smile is crooked, but it feels wrong. "See you on the other side."

And just like that, they leave Raven and Murphy behind. "We can't go without them," Mouse cries as mom straps him back in his seat.

"They will be fine, pet. Murphy will protect Raven, and nothing can kill a Fox," she smiles tensely at him as she adjusts his helmet.

The ride down to the ground is smoother than their landing on the other spaceship was.

Mom, dad, Harper, Monty, and Emori step out of the dropship quickly, taking off their space suits and picking their backpacks up from the cargo hold. Mouse, on the other hand, doesn't dare move. What he can see from where he stands close to the door is a vastness that has his heart beating in his throat. Harper and Monty walk out without a tether, and for a terrible second, he's sure they will float away and be lost forever.

"I don't want to go out," whispers Mouse when Mom comes to help him out of his spacesuit.

“We need to go, Mouse. Someone might have seen us.”

He is scared. Scared of that vast blackness that seems to stretch out forever. It is the Void, and if he walks out he will be lost, and he won't see mom or dad or any of his aunts and uncles ever again.

Mom kneels down in front of him, brushes his curly hair back of his sweaty forehead. “We have talked about coming to the ground a thousand times, baby. This is it. The air is so fresh, and you will see all the stars and the trees I told you about. Mouse, there are so many trees.”

“I want to see the trees.”

"Come, I'll take your hand, and I won't let you go. Plus, you have Mr. Rabbit, he will protect you, too."

“Mr. Rabbit is a coward. I have to protect him all the time.”

Mom chuckles and the sound is enough to calm his nerves. He hugs Mr. Rabbit against his chest and takes mom’s left hand. She carries her unsheathed sword in her right, which is something she never does.

Mom’s sword is beautiful. It has a bone handle and the tusk of a boar as a handguard and a long, thin blade. Mom told him it was a gift from his prince when she became a spy. Azgeda’s symbol is branded on the sheath. Azgeda’s symbol is very cool: a hand with a spiral inside. He thinks it should be Spacekru’s symbol, too, but they don’t have one.

Mouse steps out of the dropship and mom lets him stand there for a moment, looking all around. There is so much to look at, too. The sky is very, very high, covered in tiny blinking stars. There are tall shadows in the distance, and the ground is soft and squishy under his boots. It feels weird, and it doesn't move. If it weren't for mom's hand in his, he would've fallen on his face after his first step.

He blinks around, trying to understand where the light is coming from, what the shadows in the distance are, why there are both so many sounds, and none of them is the reassuring hum of the air-filtration system.

The air is cold, so cold it burns his nose, it tastes different than the air of the Ring.

"It took us a little while to get used to the ground, too," he hears dad say.

Mom's face appears in front of him, and she caresses his cheek. "It's ok, Mouse. You are safe, see? We are all ok.” She looks nervously around. “Do you want to see the trees up close?”

Mouse isn't sure he wants to move if he even can. But he does want to see the trees, so he lets mom tug on him as they follow dad towards the dark shapes.

They take form the closer they get: tall, very, very tall, with loads of arms. He feels watched. And then a group of less tall figures moves and those aren't trees. Those are people. They yell at them not to move - mom pushes him roughly behind her - and talk into their radio – the first thing that makes sense since he's set foot on the ground. "Six more hostiles. One of them is armed."

The radio crackles and a voice says “they killed four of us, let’s even the score.”

“We didn’t kill anyone!” says Mouse. They just came here, how can they have killed anyone.

But the men don’t listen to him. They raise their handguns with ugly sneers: “Congratulations, two of you get to live.”

But a second later they fall to the ground, red blood flowing into the earth and Mouse is starting to believe he doesn’t like the ground as much as mom said he would.

The person that killed them is a girl, with long braided hair like Emori's and a long coat. She looks angry – which she probably is because she just killed three people. "Bellamy?" Dad and mom share a questioning look, but the girl doesn't wait for an answer. "Clarke knew you'd come."

Mouse knows all about Clarke, Wanheda, the Spirit of Death who saved all of Spacekru before he was born and sent them to the sky.

"Clarke's alive?" asks Bellamy, but, of course, she is alive, she is a Spirit. Much like Murphy is a Fox Spirit, and that's why mom says he cannot die. "Clarke's in trouble, come with me."

And now they are following the little girl out of the wide-open field and into the complicated forest. There are trees everywhere, and the ground is uneven and full of stones and branches and roots that trip him up. The floor is crunchy under his boots, and after a few minutes, he is completely lost. But mom and dad and the rest are still there, close enough that he feels somewhat safe. He hugs Mr. Rabbit closer to his chest as they enter a large room made of stone and covered in plants.

There is a fire burning very low at the back of the room, casting everything in orange and red. Murphy would’ve loved this place.

"My name is Madi. Clarke found me when I was six, and we have been living together ever since. The men arrived three days ago, and they are trying to take our home from us."

“You said Clarke was in trouble?”

“Yes. This morning they captured her. I have been trying to find out a way of breaking her free, but the camp is too crowded and their guns-“ Madi shudders. There are tears on the tip of her eyelashes, but they don’t fall. Mouse wants to hug her and make the pain go away. Maybe Harper can help her, she is a great healer. “Please, you need to help her.”

"We will," says Monty and Bellamy at the same time. The adults exchange looks over his head. The room seems safe, and they trust this girl, so he lets go of mom’s hand and wanders closer to her.

She is very pretty with her hair that looks purplish in the firelight and her wide eyes. “No, I’ll go. You five stay here until we have an agreement with the prisoners,” says dad with his serious voice.

“And what if they don’t agree? What if they capture you instead?”

“They won’t. Not when we can pull the plug on their people at any moment.”

“I don’t like it, Bellamy. You shouldn’t go in there alone and much less unarmed.”

“Echo is right. We don’t have any reason to believe they care about the people they left up there,” says Harper.

“Yeah, but what other choice do we have?”

“Their army for Clarke and help opening the bunker, that seems like a pretty sweet deal to me.”

Mom isn’t convinced, but Mouse is starting to think she doesn’t want dad to go alone. “Alright.”

Dad nods, licks his lips and turns towards the girl. “Madi, I need you to show me the way to where they are keeping Clarke.”

“The rover is hidden in the south cave,” she nods already in motion.

"After you take me to Clarke you come back here and stay here with my friends until Clarke, and I come for you, understood?"

She nods.

“Be safe,” says mom, grabbing his arm so hard her knuckles turn white.

"You, too." He kisses her, just a quick peck to the lips like he does every morning after breakfast. And then he is clasping hands with Monty, Harper, and Emori. Before leaving he hugs Mouse tightly. "You be good now."

And with that, he leaves. After a few minutes, they hear the rumbling of an engine and then there is silence again. It is somewhat scary how still the adults are. Someone sighs, and the sound startles Emori. "I'll go see if I can hunt something for dinner," says mom quietly.

“I’ll come with,” offers Emori and they leave without saying goodbye.

Monty hugs Harper and Mouse has never felt this scared or this alone in his entire life. He wanders closer to the fire, clutching Mr. Rabbit as tightly as he can. It smells like the detergent mom uses to wash his clothes. It smells like Raven's workshop, like the mess hall. Mr. Rabbit smells like home, and he wants to go back there to his bed and the gray walls of the Ring.

An arm appears around his shoulders, startling him, but it is only Harper, hugging him tightly against her side. “Hey, Mouse. What’s the matter?”

“I want to go home.”

Harper sighs, rubbing his arm. “We will go, as soon as Bellamy has figured out a way to share the valley.”

“No, I want to go back home!”

“We can’t go back up to the Ring, Mouse.”

“Why not? The ground stinks, it is very cold, and dark, and damp, and scary.”

“I know it’s a little bit scary, and maybe a bit damp. But here you can enjoy the sun. And you’ll see once the sun comes out, it is so beautiful.”

“But we are Spacekru. We belong in space.”

Harper looks sad. “We will all be Spacekru no matter where we are.”

Mouse stares sullenly into the flames. “They are all gone.”

“They’ll come back.”

 

Mom and Emori come back at the same time as Madi does. They've captured three large rabbits, and they sit close to the fire to strip them of their soft fur and organs. The work stinks but the hair is very soft, and Madi puts it in water to rinse the blood from it while Emori puts the pink flesh over the fire. Mouse touches the innards with a finger. They are slimy and smell, coating his fingers in red blood. After a while, the whole cave starts to smell of meat and his mouth waters. When he sinks his teeth in the tender flesh, he decides he is never eating algae mush ever again.

After dinner the adults sit in a close circle near the entrance, leaving Mouse and Madi alone by the fire. He can hear some of their whispered conversations.

“Is Wanheda your mom?”

The girl stops staring at Monty’s back to look at him. “What?”

“Clarke, is she your mom?”

“No. My parents died in Praimfaya when I was six. Clarke only takes care of me.”

“So, she is your aunt?”

She scrunches her face. “No. All my clan died in Praimfaya.”

“But she takes care of you. Like my aunts and uncles and mom and dad.”

“Yeah, but we are not related by blood.”

Mouse shrugs. “My dad and I aren’t either. And my aunts and uncles are not related to me either. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t my family.”

Madi hums. “I never thought of it like that. I only ever call her Clarke.”

Mouse pulls on Mr. Rabbit’s ears.  

“They don’t trust me,” says the girl.

“Of course they trust you.”

"They don't, that's why they're talking trig so that I can't understand them."

“Mom and Emori talk trig when they are nervous.” Mouse frowns. “Don’t you know trig?”

"Not much. I keep forgetting words, and I don't understand half of what they are saying."

Mouse listens to the adults. They sit far away, thinking the children can’t hear them, but out here the air brings their voices sweeping in, much like the vent system did on the Ring.

“They are saying you’re much too old to be Clarke’s daughter. And my mom thinks you must be a natblida and that is how you survived Praimfaya.”

Madi tenses. “Nobody is supposed to know. If the flamekeepers find out, they will take me away.”

“Don’t worry, mom won’t tell anyone. She is good at keeping secrets.”

The girl chews on her bottom lip. "Clarke always said she'd keep me safe from the flamekeepers. Like my parents wanted. They made me hide from the scouts."

“We didn’t have scouts on the Ring. It was always only Skaikru. That’s why they wanted to come down. Bellamy’s sister is inside the bunker.”

“Yeah, Octavia. She is my favorite.”

Mouse scrunches his nose. Yes, dad always told him stories about his sister: about the games they played and how smart and beautiful and powerful as a warrior she was. But mom, dad, and Harper are great warriors, too. Mom even bested Octavia in a fight, and she got to ride with the Plain Riders and climb Eagle Mountain and drink from the magic waterfall. And Murphy is a Fox that outsmarted the last Commander. And Emori can find anything you hide in your pockets and take it without you noticing – mom says that is an unhonorable skill and he shouldn't use it. (Mouse has used it many times and always goes to Emori to show off his prizes. Emori is very impressed).

He makes Mr. Rabbit jump from one leg to the other. He isn't sure, because Harper and Monty only talk about Octavia when they think nobody is listening and are always extra careful. But he has heard… something. Something very bad happened, and dad got very hurt. Monty is afraid that Octavia will hurt dad again. "I think Octavia was mean to dad."

“Well, duh. He got Lincoln killed.”

Mouse frowns, but he has no time to answer before mom comes to tell them they have to go to bed.

“Tomorrow I will show you the forest. And we will look for acorns, what do you think?”

“I want to see a deer.”

“Maybe you will, baby.”

Mom puts her blanket on the rough stone floor and his pack under his head, draping his softest blanket over him. “Do we need to sleep on the floor?”

“For a few days. It will be fun, you’ll see.”

She tells him the story of the Winter Spirit nipping at children’s noses and tugs his blanket around Mr. Rabbit and him, brushing his curls out of his eyes. “ _Sweet dreams, my love,”_ she whispers in trig, kissing his cheek.

 

Mouse wakes up to a dark cave and someone sniffing and crying. A moment later there is the rustle of footsteps and mom’s voice: “What’s wrong, Madi?”

“Nothing.”

“Can’t you sleep?”

“Nothing, I am fine.”

“Alright. But if you want to, you can tell me. Maybe I can help.”

There is a moment of silence in which the only sound is the wind and the soft snorts of Harper and Monty.

“I keep seeing their faces.”

There is a moment of silence and then. "This was your first kill?" She must nod or answer very softly because mom talks again. "The first one stays with you a long time. It's always the hardest."

“You must think I am very weak.”

“No. I think you are brave.”

“But Clarke said you were a ruthless warrior who never hesitated.”

"I was ruthless because I had to be. That was my only purpose, but killing- it is never easy. It should never be easy." Mom pauses for a moment. "When I was a little older than Mouse, I was brought to a hall full of children. We were trained to fight, and kill. We fought and killed each other. Mercy, kindness, sadness, those were beaten out of us. And at night we would lie in our beds biting our knuckles to not make a sound while we heard each other cry." Mouse doesn't dare move; he had never heard this story. Mom never talks about the time when she was a child. "Our teacher taught us that there is a place where we can go when we kill. A place inside our mind. It is a small white corner where the answer to the questions lies."

“What questions?”

"The reason why you kill. For us the questions were: does their death serve my clan? Is it necessary? We were trained to protect Azgeda above all else. And if the answer was yes, then the kill was just, and we had done a service to Azgeda. Their blood on our hands protected our people." She hears her swallow and shift. "Now, this doesn't make killing any easier. It can never be easy to take a life because if death has no meaning, life has no worth. But, ask yourself this: was it necessary to kill those people?"

“They wanted to hurt you. They are hurting Clarke.”

“Then it is just. And you are strong for shouldering such a burden, Madi. Never forget that you are strong.”

Madi sobs. “How?”

“Crying over your enemy is a sign of a strength my teachers never taught me.”

“What is that?”

"Compassion. Kindness. Clarke's compassion saved my life. Bellamy's kindness kept me going and knit my new clan together. Without it, we are but beasts in the wild, hunting for our next prey without living."

Madi mulls these words over for a few seconds. “Yeah, thank you, Echo.”

“Go to sleep, I will ward you from any ghost that might try and haunt you.”

It takes a long time for Madi’s breathing to even out in sleep, but mom stays sitting beside her, her sword on her thighs and head turned towards the entrance.

Mouse shifts under his blanket; hugs Mr. Rabbit tighter and closes his eyes.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading and commenting.


End file.
